Sky Sports pundit doesn’t think Everton get the same decisions as others after Liverpool controversies
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Refereeing decisions are supposed to even themselves out but Kevin Campbell can’t believe that he is still waiting over a season for that to happen for Everton.
Last season’s nightmare run that saw the club almost slip in the Championship had more than its fair share of rotten officiating which affected the Toffees negatively, and the new campaign was hoped to be an improvement, but after a Merseyside derby that contained multiple more key decisions that didn’t go for Everton it appears to be continuing.
Sky Sports pundit Campbell wants to see parity in the decision-making as some sides seem to benefit from different interpretations of the rules than others, and feels Frank Lampard’s side must have some good luck around the corner.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News he said: “Yeah, look it’s not nice. At the end of the day you just want parity don’t you? If you’re going to give it for Liverpool and you’re going to give it for Southampton you should be able to give it for Everton.
“And there seems to not be the same parity. It seems that way. The numbers might say different but I think Everton have been on the end of some real tough decisions to take.
“But again, the old saying says, ‘It will even itself out’. But I’m waiting for it to even itself out in a season and a bit now, so Everton must be due some luck somewhere along the line, I can tell you that much,” he finished, while having to laugh.
The old phrase only really indicates that there will be bad decisions made constantly for as long as football is played, and it’s only the law of averages that suggests it actually evens out.
Some might point to Jordan Pickford escaping punishment for the tackle that injured Virgil van Dijk back in October 2020, but the more recent history of the fixture certain appears to have fallen heavily in the other direction.
The Dutch defender himself escaped a sending off for a studs up tackle on Amadou Onana at the weekend (3 September), while a confusing interpretation of the rules on offside cancelled out a Conor Coady winner, after Anthony Gordon was booked for diving instead of winning a penalty at Anfield in April.
It feels like the conversations around the club have been based on refereeing decisions every other week at times, but while controversies keep happening that will be the case, and Lampard would probably be happy not to have to speak about any for some time.